System and method for network traffic and I/O transaction monitoring of a high speed communications network

A system for monitoring network traffic present on a communications network, the system comprising:

• at least one data collection source comprising:
• a network link circuit connected to the communications network to monitor a plurality of data streams having a predetermined length, the network link circuit generating from each data stream a corresponding data interval;
• and
• a data frame circuit that receives the plurality of data intervals, the data frame circuit being configured to generate at least one metric based upon the contents of at least one data interval, wherein the metric contains data that is representative of at least one characteristic of network traffic;
• a portal computing device comprising:
• an operative connection to that at least one data collection source that allows selective receipt of the metric;
• and
• means for generating a secondary data structure that contains a plurality of metrics;
• and
• a client computing device comprising:
• an operative connection to the portal computing device that allows selective receipt of the secondary data structure;
• and
• means for selectively displaying network information derived from the contents of at least one secondary data structure.